Will Facebook let Donald Trump return? Oversight Board ruling coming Wednesday at 9 a.m.

The independent Oversight Board scrutinizing Facebook’s indefinite ban on former President Donald Trump will announce on Wednesday whether the social media giant should reinstate his account or keep it barred over posts that CEO Mark Zuckerberg said incited “violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.”

The ban from Facebook and Instagram came a day after a mob of Trump’s followers attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in a failed attempt to thwart Congress from sealing Joe Biden’s victory. Trump, who sympathized with the attackers in social media posts at the time, found himself kicked off Twitter and YouTube in the weeks to follow, with the platforms concerned that his accounts were likely to spark more violence.

The Oversight Board, a diverse group of international experts in law, human rights, journalism, misinformation and extremism, said it will announce a decision on its website by about 9 a.m. on Wednesday. The board — which examines how different cultures view free speech, satire, violence, nudity, sexual content and other factors — has already overturned a handful of Facebook’s decisions to remove posts the company found violent or offensive.

Some free speech advocates believe Facebook improperly censored a world leader. Trump supporters and many Republican lawmakers have long claimed that big tech selectively censors content.

Other critics say Facebook let Trump get away with hundreds of false or misleading posts throughout his presidency — contributing to the misperception by some Americans, predominantly Republicans, that the election was stolen. Local, state and federal officials of both major parties say the 2020 election included no fraud or irregularities that impacted the outcome of the presidential race. Trump’s own Department of Homeland Security called it the most secure election in U.S. history, and dozens of courts have thrown out Trump’s and other Republicans’ lawsuits over Biden’s wins in swing states.

“We didn’t just see a breach at the Capitol,” Jennifer Grygiel, a Syracuse University communications professor, told the Associated Press in January. “Social media platforms have been breached by the president repeatedly. This is disinformation. This was a coup attempt in the United States.”

The president used social media for weeks to urge supporters to amass in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, and called on the crowd to “fight” to stop a joint session of Congress from certifying Biden’s lawful Electoral College victory.

Accused by Democrats and a small group of Republicans of inciting an “insurrection” against his own capital, Trump became the first president to be impeached twice following the deadly assault. His posts on Facebook and Twitter did not initially condemn the violence, prompting Facebook and Twitter to go beyond the cautionary labels that they’d previously used to highlight Trump’s false claims that fraud or irregularities stole the election.

“The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden,” Zuckerberg said at the time. “His decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building has rightly disturbed people in the US and around the world. We removed these statements yesterday because we judged that their effect — and likely their intent — would be to provoke further violence.”

The Facebook chief added, “We believe the risks of allowing the president to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great.”

Typically, the Oversight Board reviews cases within 90 days, but the group needed more time with the Trump decision. Wednesday’s call comes after the board received more than 9,000 public comments on Trump’s case, more than it received on all previous cases combined.

According to rules established by the board, the company will have a week to unlock Trump’s account if the board overturns the ban. The Washington Post reported that Facebook has moved more quickly following past decision.

If he’s reinstated, Facebook can ban Trump again if it determines he violated company policies.

Related Content:

•Former President Donald Trump’s Facebook, Instagram account ban getting looked at by independent review to ‘provide a critical independent check’

•‘Go home in peace,’ President Donald Trump tells rioters who breached US Capitol as lawmakers accuse him of sowing ‘insurrection’

•Trump impeachment: House charges President Donald Trump with inciting ‘insurrection’ against his own Capitol; First president to be impeached twice

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